I. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more specifically to techniques for structuring communication within a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication environment.
II. Background
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various communication services; for instance, voice, video, packet data, broadcast, and messaging services can be provided via such wireless communication systems. These systems can be multiple-access systems that are capable of supporting communication for multiple terminals by sharing available system resources. Examples of such multiple-access systems include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems.
Generally, a wireless multiple-access communication system can simultaneously support communication for multiple wireless terminals. In such a system, each terminal can communicate with one or more base stations via transmissions on the forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from the base stations to the terminals, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from the terminals to the base stations. This communication link can be established via a single-input-single-output (SISO), multiple-input-single-output (MISO), single-input multiple-output (SIMO), or a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) system.
In various wireless communication environments, transmissions are structured using single-carrier waveforms in order to provide benefits such as low peak-to-average power ratios and optimal mobile device transmission efficiency. Conventionally, in the event that both control information and data are to be transmitted on the uplink, a single-carrier transmission waveform is constructed by multiplexing the control information and the data to be transmitted onto a common set of resources. However, in the event that a wireless communication system utilizes MIMO for uplink transmission, such existing techniques for control and data multiplexing become substantially unworkable due to the multiple layers (e.g., corresponding to spatial layers, codewords, etc.) utilized by MIMO systems. Accordingly, it would be desirable to implement techniques by which control and data multiplexing can be performed for uplink MIMO transmission in a wireless communication system.